Steven Universe: Pearl's Pursuit of Hope (Ch1)
by Persons100
Summary: The world is saved and beach city is rebuilding after Spinel's attack. Things are beginning to settle down for Steven. But when something strange crashes nearby Beach City, Pearl comes face to face with the hope of bringing something back. Even at the cost of her own morality. Will Steven be able to save her from herself? Or is the unbeatable enemy Steven Universe faces within?


**Chapter 1 **

It is Saturday but the alarm still buzzes. It disrupts the seacove silence of this sleepy Saturday. A grumble from the boy while he flails the thing off. In his semi-awakened state, he realizes Lion is sleeping on him. Well, rather he realizes he's surrounded by a field of pink hair that flows like wheat.

'Lion?' Steven says in the space of the mane. He pops his head back into the material world and urges Lion off. 'What are you doing on me so late, buddy?' A soft moan is the response from the pink beast.

Since the growth spurt and re-organizing of his home, Lion has transferred from Steven's face to Steven's feat as his sleeping residence. It is more spacious and Steven likes to think Lion enjoys leg room. Only on rare occasions will Lion lay on his face like the days of his childhood. _Part of growing up is letting your lion sleep at your feet, _he muses.

The clock says 8am. Far too early for a Saturday. He needed the rest desperately. It had been a month since the Spinel incident (Steven overheard Connie calling it the 'Jelly Filled Donut Fallout'. He hated how cool it sounds!) and he still felt he was recovering. No matter how many Chaps or Cookie Cats he ate, the weight of exhaustion and fatigue held him like one of Amethyst's headlocks.

He gets up with a yawn. It looks to be sunny outside with clear skies. Peridot mentioned something about viewing a meteor shower happening later. That made him perk up a bit as he tiptoed down the stairs to the bathroom.

The boy paused when he saw the front screen door propped open. Odd. No one was up this early, especially Saturdays. Even Garnet sleeps past 10am on Saturdays.

Steven pads over to the crack. On the deck is Pear leaning on the deck rail. She is looking out at the cove. The sun catches her gem slightly and shimmers over the wooden deck like fallen stars. Steven sees the now-half deconstructed drill on the sandy cliffs. He feels a slight shiver. Pearl doesn't turn around. She usually hears him coming from a mile away.

'Pearl?' She turns with a small gasp.

'Oh, Steven!' She smiles with a flare of her hand.

Steven chuckles and steps beside her. 'What are you doing up so early?'

'Oh, I was just hearing the waves.' she motions to lapping break. 'I guess I had a light sleep…'

'Yeah, my alarm woke me up. I turned the dang thing off last night!' He huffs while leaning over the rail. 'Lion was also on my face.'

'Really? I thought he sleeps at your feet now?'

Steven nodded and wondered how she knew that exactly.

'He does. I guess maybe he's feeling sentimental for old Steevy boy?'

Pearl laughed. 'Well, I guess the others will be up soon. We should probably go get some donuts…'

She looked at him with a side glance.

'Donuts! Yes please!' Steven laughed and began running down the stairs. In that moment, she couldn't stop herself from noticing how his hair bounced with the same carelesness as hers. _Humans call it bad habits, _she thought after the moment passed. It was getting harder not to notice though. Pearl glanced up at the early sky one more time before following him.

* * *

'Yo Steven!' Amethyst called out with Garnet at her side leaning in her chair. They sat at the beach side table with Peridot and Lapis, who talked passively.

Steven waved. 'Hey guys! We brought donuts!' Steven motioned to the box of 12 Pearl carried quietly. He ran to the table laughing.

'Did you get the one with sweet cocoa bean spread and pudding like filling?' Peridot asked as Steven sat.

'Peridot, we've talked about this: it's called a Boston Cream.' He pulled out the donut and handed it to the outreached hands. 'And yes I did.'

'What do you call the one with nothing on it again?' Lapis asked.

Steven shook his head. 'It's called disappointment Lapis. Disappointment.'

'Whatever it's called, pass me one.' Garnet said with a flash of her glasses. Steven handed each their respective pastries. He saw Pearl looking 100 yards away at the open wound in the earth from the drill. If you look closely, there was still remnants of the pink acidic substance hugging the walls of the earth.

'I wonder how much longer it is before they pave it,' Amethyst said with a mouth full of chocolate cream.

'Bismuth says even working overtime, it won't be for another few months.' Pearl said passively. Steven wonders what she's looking at so closely.

'Whenever they patch it up, they better hurry.' Amethyst sighs and hugs the chair she sits on. 'I hate walking around all of the cracks. So annoying.'

'Just leap over them,' Garnet says with a wink to Steven. 'Like I do.'

Steven laughs. 'Garnet, not everyone can jump as far as you.'

'It's easy. All you have to do is jump high.'

'Or have wings,' Lapis motions on her back. The group laughs but Pearl smiles. Steven notices her eyes are passive, focusing on something else.

'Well never fear gang,' Peridot says standing on her chair. 'According to my calculations, and an internet search, our very own Beach City will experience its 3rd ever meteor shower!' She moved the donuts aside and placed a tablet with a digital overview of Beach City. 'If we sit here at precisely 10:38pm EST, we will see the showers at its celestial peak!'

'Well as long as it's on the _celestial peak, _I guess I'll go." Lapis smiles.

'Yeah!' Steven smiles. 'We can all bring snacks. I have the perfect layout.' The group dives in conversation over the departure time, what to bring, whether they should drive or fly - the usual extraterrestrial talk. But Steven could see Pearl was somewhere else. Mentally, that is. He knew something was eating at her but didn't want to ask what it was in front of everyone in case it was private. And if it was, would she even tell him?

He could feel it was something layered that was eating the gem. Was it Pink?

He's seen her drift in and out the past few weeks. Usually as sharp as her spear, he's come to know the only thing that can dull her is his mom. He knew she had moved on in many ways from her history with Pink. But not from everything. No, those were the parts that were apart of her. There were some things she couldn't let go.

He remembered Spinel said she was Pink's playmate. Pearl never revisited that statement, nor implications. But the time from the drill to her distant mindset couldn't be coincidence.

So later that evening, when everyone had their blankets, snacks, and cameras, Steven made sure he walked by Pearl. He wanted to be there for her if she needed but far enough to watch without noticing.

He loved her dearly. He hoped she could love herself as much as she loved Pink. Even though it may take longer than Steven could be alive for that to finally occur.

* * *

The look out point was grassy and surrounded by slim trees. It had a perfect vantage of the city below. The group found a small spot close to the edge, not too far from many of the other residents. Sadie and Lars sat with donuts in their hand talking expressively. Sour Cream and his gang sat not too far behind them strumming soft tunes. It felt right in the universe, Steven considered.

'Yo Shtooball,' Greg waved to the group. They sat lazily and spread their blankets out. Pearl sat on hers gently. She smiled at Greg and both talked while Steven sat beside her.

'Here Pearl, I brought you your favorite: a protein bar.' Steven couldn't understand how she liked them. She had been eating more of them. He would stick with his Chaps.

'Thank you, Steven.' She took a wistful bite. He pulled out his Chaps. Now was his chance to sleuth.

'It's so beautiful tonight, isn't it? You can't even see the cracks below.' Which was true. The darkness hid the scars of the battle on the small town.

Pearl nodded. 'It really is lovely, isn't it? I keep forgetting how big the moon is here.' The sphere above was large tonight, no doubt. It basked the hill in a white glow - not too dissimilar to Pearl's gem.

'We should come up here more often,' Steven says. 'It's a perfect place to come to if you're tired, worried about anything…'He glanced at Pearl, who didn't notice the bait. _Darn, _he thought. _New strategy. _'I don't remember seeing this many stars on homeworld though.'

'That's because the Diamond's light usually prevented us from seeing anything at night. I didn't even know so many stars existed until I came here…' She sighed again.

'Do you miss homeworld, Pearl?' Beating around the bush was pointless with her, he knew. Might as well just ask her than dance this dance.

'I miss what was on it.' Pearl said immediately, almost as if she was thinking aloud. She realized what she said and smiled at Steven. 'But this is my home now. And home is where the heart is, as you humans say.' She laughed and took an anxious bite from her bar.

'Pearl, it's ok if you miss her.' A leap of faith. Pear looked at him with blue daggers. For a moment, Steven felt as if he were going to drown. _I shouldn't have said that! _He remembered the feeling he felt when Pearl looked at him the same way when she held her scabbard. A look that indicated he'd never truly know what it was like.

But no, drowning did not occur. Rather, Pearl smiled and kissed Steven's forehead. 'I do miss her, Steven. We all miss her. I'm sure you know that more than anyone. But that's life, whether you're a gem or a human: you can't have it all indefinitely.'

'Yeah, I know,' Steven said thoughtfully. He wondered if part of growing up was realizing the people you love are as vulnerable as you. Connie came to mind and for a moment, imagined life without her. It may have been a sliver of what Pearl meant.

'Truthfully, there isn't a day when she crosses my mind at least once. Usually, it passes easily enough. But something…'She glanced up at the stars. Was something shifting? Something his human half couldn't feel? The air felt fine, the grass soft, his Chaps crisp. Steven found no matter how much he grew, there were things he wouldn't be able to sense or feel as the 100% gems. What did she see through her pure gemmed eyes, he wondered.

'When your mother and I got closer, we would play for hours.' She said with a distant smile. 'We'd practice our shape shifting until one of us got too tired. She was great at that but truthfully I was better,' She laughed and winked at Steven. 'I guess I let her win...just to see her smile.' Then she pondered something. 'When Spinel said she waited for thousands of years for Ro...Pink - I felt her pain. The desire to be with the one you love and look up to, imagining their smile when they see you...it made me realize I wasn't the only one needing that. It had consumed her to the point of almost killing all of us. If I hadn't had Amethyst or Garnet when everything happened the way it did...I can't stop thinking I might have been like her.'

'Pearl-' Steven began to speak but stopped when Amethyst jumped up.

'Look!' Above the group, hundreds of small streaks danced on the dark palet of the sky. Streaks of light would flourish and fade with a small trail. The group laughed and pointed and observed the spectacle. Steven leaned on Pearl with as much comfort as his shoulder could give her in this moment.

He noticed, just for an instant, a far away streak that looked different from the others. It had a blue tint and was larger. The streak broke the sky more ruggedly than the others. It seemed closer too. It happened in an instant and was gone. He didn't seem to think too much of it.

But he couldn't see Pearl, who not only saw that streak but felt her heart flutter. It was something close to this city, she knew - walking distance, even. But she wouldn't walk to whatever that was. No, she would run as fast as she could, as if she were chasing hope itself, to that thing because she knew, somewhere deep inside her gem, it was necessary to go witness. Because something told her whatever it was, could bring back something her soul craved more than ever.


End file.
